Mayim Bialik, an actress, author, and neuroscientist, who became a fan-favorite on the hit CBS show The Big Bang Theory as Sheldon's quirky love interest, is starring in a sitcom of her own again.
The show, which premiered in January and titled Call Me Kat, is about a woman who uses her life savings to open a cat cafe in Louisville, Ky. Jim Parsons, who starred opposite Bialik in The Big Bang Theory as the highly intelligent but often irritating Sheldon, is producing the show adapted from the British sitcom Miranda by Miranda Hart.
"He said 'if anyone can pull off annoying but also adorable, I think it's you," Bialik told Cheddar.
In the grand-old tradition of adapting British comedies, the two shows will share more in spirit than in specifics, but both concern a single woman looking for love and employment. What's unique to the American version is the decision to base the show in a cat cafe.
Luckily for Bialik, she's a cat owner herself.
"It's really awesome that I get to play with cats all day at work, and come home and then deal with my own cats who definitely smell the other cats on me," she said.
A stylistic choice that was carried over from Miranda is that Bialik's character will break the fourth wall throughout the show.
"Kat is a character who's alone a lot and tries not to be lonely, so the audience is kind of in on what's going on in her head," Bialik said.
In addition, the cast takes a bow at the end of each episode, which Bialik said has been divisive.
"You don't have to love it, but if you don't, it's not our fault. It's based on Miranda," she said.
The neuroscientist also took a moment to talk about the world outside the silver screen.
Bialik made headlines back in October for posting a video on YouTube clarifying that she was not an anti-vaxxer. She said misinformation had spread about her because her newly-born children were not vaccinated on a regular schedule.
"Obviously my children are vaccinated," she said. "We are a family that supports the vaccine program for this virus."
However, she noted that she was a skeptical person in general and pointed out that the long-term effects of COVID vaccines are still unknown. Nonetheless, she said she got the vaccine in order to reach herd immunity as soon as possible.
"I got the vaccine, and that's something that I decided to share about because there's been a lot of misinformation about me."
WW, the company formerly known as Weight Watchers, is looking to expand past its mostly-female base by partnering up with celebrities like DJ Khaled and brands like Blue Apron to inspire a new demographic of members. WW Chief Brand Officer Gail Tifford said Blue Apron was a "very natural fit" for WW members, despite struggles that have driven the meal kit company's stock down sharply since its 2017 IPO. WW is also partnering with Headspace's mindfulness app, Aaptiv for audio fitness content, and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. "I think you will start to see the makeup of our community really start to change in an exciting way," Tifford said.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Jan. 4, 2019.
Fitness and beauty booking tool Mindbody is planning to make a play for the next big thing in wellness ー on-demand video, CEO Rick Stollmeyer told Cheddar on Thursday. "You can expect us to be playing in that space because we think that the on-demand and streaming video revolution hitting the fitness space is a big breakthrough," Stollmeyer said.
Roku's new content partnership with Showtime, Starz, and other premium channels is "just the beginning" of a greater expansion into paid content, the company's VP of programming and engagement told Cheddar Thursday.
For a country that spends $72 billion a year on its pets, it would follow that some of the biggest trends in health and wellness eventually make their way to the domain of our furry friends. Vanity Fair reporter Joanna Brenner says CBD, the non-psychoactive compound in marijuana, is the next frontier in pet wellness.
PepsiCo is spearheading an autonomous food delivery service on the campus of the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., where students can now order snacks via an app that are then delivered to them via a small robotic vehicle. The "snackbot" is a "first-of-its-kind" experiment in self-driving and robotics technology, Scott Finlow, vice president of innovation and insights at PepsiCo, told Cheddar.
Chipotle may be best known for stuffed burritos and chips and guac, but the fast-casual chain is kicking off 2019 as an unlikely source of health food ーlaunching a new collection of diet-friendly "Lifestyle Bowls" just in time for New Year's resolutions. The new bowls are branded around four of the trendiest diets, but the company's VP of marketing said the new venture is "a lifestyle approach, it's not a fad."
Stress and the pressure of perfection all too often get in the way of achieving goals ー or at this time of year, resolutions. But rethinking stress, "trusting the process," and practicing gratitude are some simple ways to make serious strides, according to Monica Berg, author of "Fear is Not an Option" and chief communications officer for the Kabbalah Centre.
In a new era of transportation, safety testing is critical for cars that are now more dependent on tech than on steel and rubber. The American Center for Mobility is a 500-acre testing facility located in Ypsilanti, Mich., just over 30 miles from Detroit. On the center's highway speed loop, vehicles are tested for safety on a range of roadway and weather conditions. "It's gotta work all the time, every time," the center's interim CEO, Kirk Steudle, told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin.
Tesla's latest production miss proves it is no longer a "hyper-growth story," Tesla short Mark Spiegel told Cheddar. Tesla shares tumbled close to 7 percent on Wednesday after the company missed expectations on car deliveries and broadly discounted its vehicles to offset subsidy cuts.
